On communication and media

… the thoughts of Marshall MacLuhan

Marshall McLuhan (1911-80) was a Canadian philosopher of communication theory. His work was characterised by two things: an extraordinary prescience—much of what he wrote in the sixties has only really come to pass in the past ten years—and a capacity for a remarkable turn of phrase which, if somewhat self-regarding at times, managed to encapsulate truth memorably.

There is a rich collection of quotations on Wikiquote, almost all of which could be included here. This is a personal selection.

It’s misleading to suppose there’s any basic difference between education and entertainment. This distinction merely relieves people of the responsibility of looking into the matter.

The new electronic interdependence recreates the world in the image of a global village.

The Gutenberg galaxy (1962)

The interiorization of the technology of the phonetic alphabet translates man from the magical world of the ear to the neutral visual world.

The Gutenberg galaxy (1962)

Man becomes, as it were, the sex organs of the machine world, as the bee of the plant world, enabling it to fecundate and to evolve ever new forms. The machine world reciprocates man’s love by expediting his wishes and desires, namely, in providing him with wealth.

Understanding media (1964)

The hot radio medium used in cool or nonliterate cultures has a violent effect.

Understanding media (1964)

The medium is the message.

Understanding media (1964)

Environments are not just containers, but are processes that change the content totally.

journal article, American scholar (1965)

The more data banks record about us, the less we exist.

quoted, interview, Playboy (1969)

Politics will eventually be replaced by imagery.

quoted, magazine interview, Maclean’s (1972)

Try not to have Emily exposed to hours and hours of TV. It is a vile drug which permeates the nervous system, especially in the young.

letter to his son Eric McLuhan, regarding one of Eric’s daughters (1976)

Man works when he is partially involved. When he is totally involved he is at play or leisure.